Police have arrested 26 suspects across Alberta and charged them with 63 offences related to online child sexual exploitation — and officials speculate the rise in referrals is likely related to COVID-19 isolation measures. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams' ICE unit (internet child exploitation) made the arrests from June 20 to Sept. 17. According to a release issued by ALERT on Wednesday, the probe was aided by investigative referrals from the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre, which works with Internet and social media providers to track online child sexual exploitation. The unit investigates offences involving child pornography, computer-related child sexual abuse, child luring over the internet, voyeurism involving victims under the age of 18, and child sex trade/tourism offences. Anyone with information about any child exploitation offence is encouraged to contact local police or cybertip.ca.

Source: CBC News September 30, 2020 17:16 UTC